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Naosuke Gombei
Naosuke Gombei
Image © Worcester Art Museum, all rights reserved.

Naosuke Gombei

Artist (Japanese, 1839–1892)
Dateabout 1866
Mediumink and color on paper
Dimensionssheet: 37.4 × 26.2 cm (14 3/4 × 10 5/16 in.)
ClassificationsDrawings
Credit LineAlexander H. Bullock Fund
Object number2002.280
DescriptionSketch of WAM 2002.71

Preparatory works give insights into Yoshitoshi’s process. Printers and woodblock carvers would produce a monochrome print from the artist’s outline sketch of the design, known as the “keyblock print.” The artist would then mark several impressions of this print with notations to indicate color placement in the final state print. The subtlety and exactitude given to the blood patterning demonstrates Yoshitoshi’s sensitivity to its accurate depiction. Such sensitivity was understood by Yoshitoshi’s friend, the actor Ichikawa Danjūrō IX (1838–1903), who requested that Yoshitoshi paint realistic blood on his armor for his role in the kabuki play A Thousand Cherry Blossoms.
Label TextPreparatory works give insights into Yoshitoshi’s process. Printers and woodblock carvers would produce a monochrome print from the artist’s outline sketch of the design, known as the “keyblock print.” The artist would then mark several impressions of this print with notations to indicate color placement in the final state print. The subtlety and exactitude given to the blood patterning demonstrates Yoshitoshi’s sensitivity to its accurate depiction. Such sensitivity was understood by Yoshitoshi’s friend, the actor Ichikawa Danjūrō IX (1838–1903), who requested that Yoshitoshi paint realistic blood on his armor for his role in the kabuki play A Thousand Cherry Blossoms.ProvenanceKatie and Scott McDonald, Rochester, NY
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